Blood Oxygen Feature Removed From Apple Watch to Avoid Ban

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Facts

• Amid ongoing legal battles with medical device company Masimo, Apple has announced that beginning Thursday, it will remove the blood oxygen feature from its latest Apple Watches in order to avoid an import ban.¹
• Two of Apple’s latest smartwatches were subjected to an import ban after the US International Trade Commission ruled that the devices’ blood- oxygen sensor infringed on Masimo’s patents. A US Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay in late December, allowing Apple to sell its watches for the last three weeks.²
• However, on Wednesday, the court refused to extend its order, prompting Apple to remove the feature in question from its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. A Monday court filing from the US Customs and Border Protection granted Apple approval to sell its devices without the disputed blood oxygen sensor.³
• The legal battles are far from over, and Apple expects that it will take at least another year for its appeal to be resolved. In the meantime, it is selling the two latest Apple Watches for the same price, claiming that the redesigned device is the exact same, minus the blood oxygen app.⁴
• While new Apple Watches being sold will have the pulse oximeter disabled, devices that have already been purchased by customers will still have access to the feature, but Apple did not confirm how long the app will be available to existing owners.⁵

Sources: ¹CNBC, ²ABC7 Chicago, ³Associated Press, ⁴Ars Technica and ⁵Verge.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by MacRumors. The Federal Appeals Court made the right decision in not bending the knee to Apple and preserving the integrity of patent protection rights in the US. Apple thinks it can do whatever it wants by leveraging its massive corporate power and crushing smaller competitors. However, Masimo is not going down without a fight and is sticking up for the real innovators in technology. At this point, Apple is only relying on name recognition and brand equity to maintain its dominance.
• Narrative B, as provided by Washington Post. Even in the face of a legal “loss,” Apple continues to come out on top and assert its status atop the tech mountain. Everyone knew that Apple could not be prevented from selling its iconic watch, and customers will always line up for the company’s products whether or not they contain certain niche features like a blood oxygen sensor. Masimo is trying to instigate a battle with Apple over an innocuous feature, but in the end, this whole saga only raised publicity for the Apple Watch and caused only a minor inconvenience for the tech giant.

Predictions